Ducks at Devils
THE STORY: The Anaheim Ducks are enjoying life on the road. They haven't enjoyed much success recently at their next stop, however. The Ducks continue their eight-game road trip Friday when they take on the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Anaheim is 3-0-1 on its current trek and 7-1-3 in its last 11 on the road, but it has lost 10 of its last 11 visits to New Jersey. The Devils are 3-1-2 in their last six at home but have lost two straight. They have earned at least one point in eight of nine overall (6-1-2).
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), MSG Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (24-24-9): Anaheim has gone 14-2-3 over its last 19 contests. With the surge, the club has climbed within eight points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Teemu Selanne's next goal, which will be the 657th of his career, will give him sole possession of 12th place on the all-time list. He currently is tied with Brendan Shanahan. The “Finnish Flash” needs two points to pull even with Luc Robitaille for 20th all time (1,394).
ABOUT THE DEVILS (32-20-4): Ilya Kovalchuk finally is resembling the player New Jersey believed it was acquiring in February 2010. Kovalchuk is coming off his first hat trick with the Devils and has recorded 13 goals in his last 17 games. The three-goal performance was the 12th of Kovalchuk's career and first since Feb. 15, 2009, with the Atlanta Thrashers. Kovalchuk's hat trick was the first by a Devil since Patrik Elias scored three times on April 1 against Philadelphia. Alexei Ponikarovsky has been a pleasant surprise offensively, collecting eight points in 10 games since being acquired from Carolina.
OVERTIME:
1. The Ducks are 17-11-5 since Bruce Boudreau took over for Randy Carlyle as coach on Nov. 30.
2. Anaheim's Corey Perry has recorded five tallies during his three-game goal-scoring streak.